Can you believe that the new class of MPH students is having orientation this Thursday and starting summer term next week?! Many prayers for the incoming students (and continuing students, staff, and faculty) here at the School of Public Health - that we can practice giving and receiving grace in what can be tough times of transition, and that the good news of Jesus can be shared! May you abide in the Truth today, having the eyes to see and ears to hear who he wants you to love in word and in deed.

PHCF meets this week (and all summer) on Wednesdays at lunchtime in Room W2017 in the School of Public Health. This week, we will pray and prepare for the student activities fair (and have food-and-fellowship time). Anyone who wants to assist at the Activities Fair on Monday (11am-12:30pm) in Feinstone is welcome to join me and Shawn - and get a free lunch! We are exci…

Deut 32:9-12 - the final Song of Moses after God commissions Joshua to lead the people of Israel - says this: 9 the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.10 “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness;he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young,spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,12 the Lord alone guided him, no foreign god was with him."

May you, too, rest in the knowledge and hope that the Lord is guiding you, catching you, present with you - even (and especially) when you find yourself in a desert land or a new/unknown place. May you grow in faith as you believe that your God calls you the apple of his eye, his dearly beloved. Cling to him, and to him alone, for his words are true and unfailing. May your thoughts, words, and deeds bring him glory this week!

One of the last "good" kings of Judah was described as good and right and faithful - for everything he did, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered (2 Chron 31:20-21). Hezekiah had cleansed/reconsecrated the temple, restored right worship, reinstated Passover, broken down the high places, and much more - a driven, and by any measure quite successful, king. But the blessing poured out on him came not because of any specific action he had done, though what he did was good!, but because he sought the Lord with all his heart. This is our prayer for you today: may you, too, seek God with all your heart (mind, soul, and strength) - giving glory to God in all the work he has set before you, whether big or small, whether exciting or tedious. May you practice being faithful in the little things, and rest in his abundant grace.

A final Scripture-prayer: May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord. (Ps 104:34)

As Solomon begins his prayer at the consecration of the temple in Jerusalem, he asks: But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! (2 Chron 6:18) Isn't it amazing that God DOES dwell with us (Jesus our Emmanuel), and even IN us through the Holy Spirit? We pray this morning that you rest in wonder of how big and great our God is - and that the Spirit fills you with power to pursue the work that he has set before you. Be of good courage!

We will meet tomorrow (Wed) at lunchtime (12:15pm) in Room W2033 - come join us for fellowship and prayer! More announcements below!